650+ Miles Covered By Foot and In the Cars of Strangers

I've just returned from a backpacking/hitchhiking trip from the lower half of michigan to the U.P.

My younger brothers Benjamin and David joined me, as well as a friend from high school, Ciggy. It was one of the most pivotal (thus far) happenings of my life, spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. My wanderlust is still a very real part of me, an insatiable beast. But this experience was heightened by a intentional lack of money and sustenance. We depended solely on our immediate surroundings and the generosity of the people that we came in contact with. We proved that it could be done and not only that, but with four men, nonetheless. Here is a destination to destination log of our journey.

South Haven to Holland: We began walking the coast, along Lake Michigan. We had proposed to walk the entire coast at the start. But not everyone was digging this plan a few hours later. We made our way through private beaches and beachfront property to the road and caught three rides that ended with us in Holland for the night. An almost dangerous confrontation was defused and led to us sleeping on a private beach. Falling asleep to the waves/light rain was what I needed at the end of the day. Our stomachs were somewhat full with ramen noodles that we had cooked over our fire. Woke up to a beautiful 6 a.m. sunrise/rainbow medley. A breakfast of cherries from a "neighbors" tree. Breakfast always tastes best when you don't get caught. Hitched a ride into town and took shelter from the rain in Barnes and Noble. A pastor saw us later that morning after a failed attempt at dumpstered lunch and treated us to a McDonald's dinner (not the healthiest, but who's keeping track?).

Muskegon: Caught a ride with a girl our age out of Holland, she was cute and wanted to spend more time with us. So we all stopped in at the Vietnam Museum converted from a ship that landed in Normandy on D-day. Student discount with no i.d. proof (since we aren't students) :) Set up camp in a apartment complex for a while. Later got picked up by two girls and dropped off at a Comfort Inn (One had worked at Michigan's Adventure and informed us that it'd be near impossible to gatecrash). The lady at the hotel desk didn't seem to notice the four of us with our large packs walk past her, so the guys followed me straight to the indoor pool. It was all fun and games until the janitor asked us what room number we were. He may have called the police but we wouldn't have known since we ran to the expressway and the fourth car we saw became our getaway.

Rothbury: We had gotten advice that we may be able to work one of the festivals in the area. But after talking to both the Double J Ranch and Lucky Lake supervisors, found out that we weren't going to have such luck. Sneaking in was a definite possibility, but we decided to keep heading North. Especially after the Lucky Lake security prodded us off the property for a second time. We expected the town of Rothbury to be larger. 

Ludington: A storm was blowing in so we decided that it might be the best time of day to visit the lighthouse, but by the time we got halfway across the concrete, we saw an officer escorting a group of youngsters back to pier entrance. Some of the group walking back seemed interested in our stories. We later ran into them downtown and they offered us ice cream. The rain started to kick in and so we ran like hoodlums to rescue our packs. We had hidden them so we could explore the city. We found a bandshell in the public park for shelter and laid our clothes out to dry. After a dumpster session, we returned with pizza and tortilla chips for dinner and a dry, warm place to sleep. The next morning was spent between the laundromat (to dry our drenched clothing) and thrift stores (to find a new pair of shoes for Daniel). After returning to Ciggy, who had been watching our bags on the sidewalk, we found him asleep, sprawled across the sidewalk. A police officer pulled up seconds later and informed us that he had received a call about a dead man barricading the pedestrian walkway. Although, Ciggy was alive and well, only exhausted.

Manistee: Finally got out of Ludington after an elderly man decided we needed a tour of every historical spot of the city (which there was quite a few...). He left us at a beach south of downtown, ultimately backtracking us. Even though he had promised to pick us up in the morning, our wanderlust got the best of us and we left him a note before we  left town. Arriving in Manistee, we hid our bags. Highlights of this beautiful city included exploring an abandoned high school at midnight, finding a rooftop to sleep on underneath the stars, and waking up with the sun and early morning yoga.

In Between Manistee and Buela: Stopped by an Ottawa Reservation (Ciggy is of Apache descent and has an interest in reservation life). Met a Native American Fisher named Jackie who smudged us for safe travels and fed us. A beautiful soul. Her and her husband were empty-nesting gypsies. We exchanged gifts and parted ways. Then to a Little River Casino, adjacent to the reservation. We were asked to leave not much later due to our table diving and scrounging for quarters in their fountains.

Buela: Very friendly small town. All the shopkeepers came out and wished us luck in our travels. We were invited into a laundromat, full of folks. A local forest ranger told us what to do if we encountered any bears further up. Everyone inside was very interested in our stories and travels. We received a total of 20 dollars from the owner and her beautiful daughter. We got a ride from a younger couple who bought us an amazing dinner (Culvers) and took us all the way to Traverse City.

Traverse City: Joined a summer solstice celebration drum circle the instant we heard it; drummed for hours and my youngest brother fell into a trance. Met many interesting folks during and after the session. As we were sitting in the street much later that night, we crossed paths with another traveling kid, "Nobuddy Important". We talked with him for hours and he passed along some wisdom and stories. After showing us a good place to sleep, we parted ways. A light rain woke us up a few hours later (we had seen a storm coming over the water earlier and weren't too surprised) and relocated to underneath a Methodist Church front entrance overhang. The next morning we found that the same church held a breakfast for the homeless most of the week. So we ate well with our brothers and sisters of Traverse City. Later during our meal we met John, a youth counselor specializing with run-away youth, who had been called to confront the "three kids sleeping out front". We assured him that our adventure were in every way intentional and that we had no escapist mentality. Me and Benjamin serenaded the group with the piano located in the corner of the dining hall, much to the joy of the staff. Later this day, Ciggy's 50 lb. bag would go missing. It contained most of our food and camping equip. We can only hope that someone who needed it more than we did has it now.

Elk Rapids: Hitching out of Traverse City is where things started to get rough. We walked almost ten miles before finally catching a ride, which would have been anything but normal until this point. The summer heat was getting to us and we fell asleep sprawled out on the sidewalk of a Ponderosa Steak House. We eventually got picked up by Ann, a real estate agent. She played Sinatra in her car and had a lot of energy. She drove us to her hometown of Elk Rapids and let us buy whatever we wanted at Subway. She than took us to her home at a group of very up-scale condominiums. She insisted that we swim in her pool, much to the disdain of the other rich folk that lived in condos near hers. Her stuck-up, bastard of a doctor neighbor confronted us and questioned our intelligence (assuming correctly that we were poor). It was decided that we may have scared him with the extent our free-spirits and our display of joy.

Petoskey: Caught a ride from crazy guy, who called himself Quarters. Told us something of a "job he needed done" and rambled on about putting us up in a motel and taking us as far we needed to go North. It ended with him dropping us off in Charlevoix with $65 and a 24-pack of bud light. None of us drink, except for Ciggy, so we used the beer as a bargaining chip for a ride that late at night. A fellow at the gas station we were soliciting informed us that he wasn't headed the way we needed but did give us a 20 dollar bill. We ended up catching a ride with a very irresponsible mother, her daughter, and the daughter's friends. They got us all the way to the corporate shopping district of Petoskey. We spent a good share of time causing trouble at Wal-Mart and even considered spending the night there. But our stunts went a little too far and we didn't feel that we were welcome anymore. After we reached actual downtown (by 2:30 a.m.) we dumpstered two cakes from a local bakery. We found a warm, quiet place to sleep in the foyer of a Lutheran Church. It hadn't been left unlocked purposefully, however, because we were promptly told to "get the hell out" early the next morning. Walked to a farmers market and got front row (sidewalk) seats for a folk duo performance. Made five dollars by just wandering around the market, looking dirty and lost. We met a younger kid who worked with some of the local Amish on their farm, named Charlie. He had been dreaming of traveling, just like us, when he got older. I truly hope that we were the inspiration that he needed. He gave us a bag of Cheese Curds, they were delicious and free. 

Tip of Mitten: The pattern continued the further north we got. Less rides and less kindness. We finally solicited a ride from a cute girl about my age, quite a walk outside of Petoskey. She was headed to Kalamazoo(!) but took us quite a ways up the highway to another gas station. We made our way to the expressway and were soon "pulled over" by a sheriff. He had gotten a call that there was a young man contemplating suicide on the highway bridge overpass. This had been me, just fooling around, of course. But we played it off that we had only quickly jumped up there to safely reach the freeway. Our next step, naturally, had been to illegally hitchhike on the interstate. He told us what was what. An hour or so passed with no rides and I was getting restless. After liberating some cardboard for sign-making, we got a ride heading back to the road that ran along the coast. We encountered another officer who gave us hitchhiking tips (of which didn't make sense) that we employed until he was out of sight. After an hour or two of walking and losing ALL morale we got picked up by a sympathetic farmer. He dropped us off at a gas station in Pellston. We were approached by a younger gentleman who had happened to pass us by a day earlier when we were walking past the Grand Traverse Bay Lodge. He wasn't headed our way, but gave in and decided to skip his AA meeting to drive us North. He even drove us farther than planned, over the bridge and to St. Ignace. He topped all of this off with Salad and Pizza. We gave him our sign that read "Across the Bridge!?" as a memento. 

St. Ignace: Not much to explore in these parts. Called the "Hope Hotline" from a poster attached to the church. They didn't help at all, and mostly just asked unnecessary questions. David told them that they were "a waste of his damn minutes" and hung up on "The Reverend". We got kicked out of the Family Dollar parking lot for soliciting or relaxing in their shopping carts or something. Slept on a porch off the side of the library. Woke up and went into to do our normal morning routine. This routine consists of reading/using the computers and cleaning up in libraries restroom. Didn't take long to get a paid-for (aren't they all?) ride over the bridge into Mackinaw city.

Mackinaw City and the upper half of middle MI: Difficult catching any rides around here, everyone was a damned tourist or a redneck. Finally got back to Petoskey after eating all our rationed food and looking pathetic by the side of the road. Then got a ride to Boine City/Falls and decided it would be a good idea to keep walking. Not at all. We ended up in the most secluded area we had been, thus far. Walked for hours, until the sun had long set. We must have upset the hillbilly locals because the police received a call about "four suspicious subjects with backpacks" (that's what we heard on the officer's radio).Officer Brian understood our situation and gave us a very fast ride to Mancelona. He stopped at a gas station so that we could get some food and then dropped us off at a motel. He wouldn't let us sleep on the streets, naturally. So we were required to spend the last of our money on a room. The motel stay was a nice break from the norm. A huge bed to sleep in beats the street when the opportunity arises. We also all got the chance to shower. The next morning consisted of gas station hopping. Most everyone was nice except the redneck folks in little Alba, north of Mancelona.

Grand Rapids: Met Rosemary almost as soon as we had landed, the pastor of a Charismatic church. The discussions we had with her in her van were anything but common. Very interesting topics that mostly fell under the realm of religion. She became blatantly intolerant as the night wore on, however, upsetting Ciggy. Benny, Ciggy, and I explored the city for a good share of the night. Met some interesting folk, gave our last five dollars to a homeless brother in need. Our first attempt at crashing in a parking garage took a turn for the worst when we were woken by aggressive honking from a security car. The woman was too scared to get out of the car, however. We raced down the stairs as she tried her best to follow us. We got away, safely. A homeless fella who seemed to "own the territory" that we had found, shared some pizza with us. Best dumpstered pizza of my life. We ended up sleeping in his alley way on cardboard, not the most uncomfortable night of my life.

Grand Rapids to Home: Some library time in the morning and some spent making a beautiful "Trying to Get Home to KALAMAZOO" sign. Got really lucky with rides and made it home by 1:30 p.m. Ate like we hadn't in weeks until we fell asleep.


With a total of 650+ miles covered, 40+ rides for 4 dirty cats on the side of the street, all in just under ten days. It feels like the longest ten days of my life, with good reason. It's a life that most people will never know. It was absolute freedom. No schedules, no need to know the time, no restrictions aside from when the law interfered (which it did, from time to time). It still isn't out of my system and I can't wait to get back. i feel that my wanderlust may never die and I'm just fine with that. 

Love and easy rest to you all!

-A.J.W.